Dear Sage: coming up on 6 years since finished Primary PGCE, still to do NQT year..

Due to difficulty finding a job for the September after I graduated, I left the UK and worked for a year in a bilingual school in Spain with early years and year 1 school, teaching English; and to learn a modern foreign language (which I felt would be beneficial to my teaching career).

I then secured a private tuition contract for a two year period (in Spain), tutoring primary school children. Two years turned into four and a half (and counting). I am happy in my current post, and my clients are very happy with me, and are reluctant for me to leave; I envisage working here for another couple of years before returning to the UK to do NQT year.

I have started an MEd to inform my practice and keep up to date, will have a MFL and voluntary experience in UK early years and primary (I volunteer when I can when I visit family in UK,which I do as often as I can) when I do return.

Although I would like to, I cannot do supply teaching in the UK during any of my visits there, unless I would be able to complete NQT within the required time period (16 months?), and as this is currently not an option, I need to be very careful.

In your opinion, how difficult do you think it would be for me to do an NQT year (both to secure a post and for me having been out of the system for so long)?

Although I would like to, I cannot do supply teaching in the UK during any of my visits there, unless I would be able to complete NQT within the required time period (16 months?), and as this is currently not an option, I need to be very careful.

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Assuming you have the right to work in the UK, there's nothing stopping you working supply (well, apart from the fact that supply jobs are about as common as hen's teeth) when you're in the country.

The 16 month limit applies to non inductable posts and starts to run from the first day you do supply.

So if you got a whole term supply contract, that wouldn't count as "supply"; it would be term 1 in your induction.

In your opinion, how difficult do you think it would be for me to do an NQT year (both to secure a post and for me having been out of the system for so long)?

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Heck knows! Teaching is an oversupplied profession - if you didn't get a job 6 years ago, well, it's got a lot harder to find one since then, but who's to say what your experiences will be until you try?

There might be a primary school just near where you'd like to live that just happens to have a large Spanish migrant population.. ..